To remove wrinkles from fabrics, in particular garments, one may turn to a variety of tools for assistance. Two popular tools for home use are the iron and the garment steamer. Although these devices have a generally similar purpose, they belong to distinct technical classes, each characterized by its own set of constructional features, method of use, performance level and suitability for taking care of certain materials.
From a constructional point of view, the iron sets itself apart from the garment steamer primarily by its relatively heavy, typically hand-sized metal soleplate. The heated soleplate defines the essence of an iron in that it forms the portion thereof that is forced into contact with a fabric being treated so as to heat it, loosen the inter-molecular bonds between its fibers, and mechanically force the fibers into a wrinkle-free state. The weight of the soleplate, and that of the hand-held portion of the iron as a whole for that matter, is beneficial to the iron's operation since it automatically contributes to the pressure that is applied to the fabric. To the user, the iron's weight presents no problem since it is normally supported by an ironing board, and not borne by the user himself. The fabric is thus squeezed between the heated soleplate and the board, possibly under the action of steam that may be released from pores in the soleplate to obtain optimal ironing results.
This is all different for garment steamers. During use the hand-held portion of a garment steamer is in particular not supported on a (horizontal) ironing board. Instead, the hand-held portion is lifted by a user who runs its steam releasing nozzle head up and down a fabric being treated, at a slight distance therefrom or in grazing contact therewith. During such treatment, the fabric may be hanging from a hanger or the like, while the hand of the user not involved in lifting the hand-held portion may keep it in a tensioned, slightly stretched condition. The steam fed to the fabric is to induce stress relaxation, which, in particular under the action of manual stretching, smoothes out any creases therein. In this regard, it may be noted that the weight of the hand-held portion of a garment steamer does not contribute to the device's operation, and must be continuously lifted without the benefit of support by an ironing board. The lack of mechanical squeezing of the fabric during treatment may generally cause a garment steamer's performance to be somewhat less than that of an iron. At the same time, however, more delicate fabrics may preferably be treated with a garment steamer since this does not involve direct contact with a scorching hot soleplate.
Contemporary garment steamers come in two basic models: floor models and hand-held models. A floor model has a (stationary) base unit including a steam generator, and steam head that is connected to the steam generator via a hose that feeds steam from the steam generator to nozzles in the steam head. A floor model type garment steamer typically includes a relatively large water tank, e.g. a 1.5 liter tank, which provides it with a high degree of autonomy (away from the tap), but also renders it rather heavy and bulky. A hand-held model is a unitary device in which the water tank, the steam generator and the nozzled steam head are all integrated in one housing. Due to its smaller water tank a hand-held model is normally lighter and therefore better manageable and more portable than a floor model, but these characteristics are realized at the cost of a significantly smaller autonomy time.